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More than 600 business-to-business meetings were held at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi within a few hours on Friday, highlighting strong interest in cross-border trade and investment as business leaders called for fewer barriers and concrete steps to deepen economic cooperation.
Anant Swarup, Secretary General of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), said the forum had brought together 2,000 delegates, including 1,100 from India and 900 foreign delegates, with businesses using the platform to explore new partnerships. We had opened a portal where any one business could have requested for another meeting with another business. In a short span of, say, four hours, five hours, we have got 600-plus meetings happening in this room, Swarup said. He said discussions at the forum were focused on reducing barriers to trade and investment, with businesses also communicating their concerns directly to governments. I think that is the important forum which BRICS is now providing to the industry, and also it provides an opportunity to the governments to listen to what the industry concerns are in promoting greater BRICS trade and investment collaboration, he said. Harsh Pati Singhania, Chairman and Managing Director of JK Paper and Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) India, said the BRICS Summit was taking place at a time of global uncertainty and should result in tangible solutions. He highlighted the importance of common and interoperable standards for trade documents, saying they could make cross-border trade faster and reduce non-tariff barriers, particularly for small and medium enterprises. The biggest thing that should come out of this summit is a concrete set of actions, which are agreed to be adopted by the different BRICS countries, Singhania said. He also said India's digital systems could provide models for other BRICS and partner countries. Rajat Agrawal, CEO of Barista Coffee, said supply-chain disruptions and the use of local currencies in trade were among the key areas where BRICS cooperation could create opportunities. He said trading in local currencies could ease pressure on currencies currently used for cross-border transactions and encourage businesses to explore new markets. Agrawal also pointed to India's manufacturing capabilities and large talent pool as potential strengths in building more stable supply chains. The BRICS Business Forum is being held ahead of the BRICS Summit, with India's 2026 chairship focused on practical cooperation and strengthening economic engagement among member countries. The industry leaders also identified trade, digital technology, supply chains and economic cooperation as key areas for collaboration. (ANI)
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